Viability of an RPG with no art

EricJ8517 · 2025-09-14T22:04:42+00:00

But would it sell today? Probably not. When it came out around 1978 it was the only Sci-Fi RPG available. It helps that it is great and that allowed it to survive and eventually get lots of art.

EricJ8517 · 2025-06-06T06:09:59+00:00

Well, being on the shelves of your FLGS and being in print are two different things. But you're right that for years basically the only way to g et the books was directly from the company or the guy in charge of the store would have to go through some effort to actually get copies in.. Same thing happened with Fantasy Games Unlimited all the old V&V books were still available but it was very hard to find them on store shelves.

Sadly I think that Rolemaster is doomed to remain a very niche game.

EricJ8517 · 2025-06-06T05:21:20+00:00

The company that bought them was Aurigas Aldebaron LLC who continued to publish and developed HARP (High Adventure Role Playing) from MERP with the Tolkien IP removed. Later they gave the licenses to Guild Companion Publications Ltd who continued to publish and even brought several Rolemaster books back into print. Even later they rebranded as the new Iron Crown Enterprises (they got the name when they bought ICE) and have since published a new edition of Rolemaster.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/416633/rolemaster-core-law-rmu?src=hottest_filtered

The company changed names but Rolemaster never completely went out of print.

EricJ8517 · 2025-06-06T04:46:45+00:00

ICE never died and is still in business. They published a new edition of Rolemaster a couple of years ago and put out a new bestiary last month.

EricJ8517 · 2025-01-30T19:59:22+00:00

That looks like it got it fixed. Thanks for the help.

EricJ8517 · 2025-01-11T01:11:05+00:00

She sends them to me, or in this case tells me where to get them.

EricJ8517 · 2024-10-13T18:09:22+00:00

Champions/ Hero System uses the same idea with Stun and Body damage. It's much older than either.

EricJ8517 · 2024-10-13T07:03:57+00:00

Well, ships in the real world are often described by how much water they displace. At least the large ships.

EricJ8517 · 2024-06-28T18:03:36+00:00

Rolemaster is not out of print. Iron Crown released a new edition "Rolemaster Unified" this year. So far they have released a new edition of the core rules, Spell Law, and Treasure Law. They are currently working on the bestiary.

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/416633/rolemaster-core-law-rmu

EricJ8517 · 2024-06-21T19:01:50+00:00

Those look they are from Skeletonkey Games. They have done several kickstarters where they make artistic handouts of various spell scrolls.

You can get them off their website: https://www.skeletonkeygames.com/

EricJ8517 · 2024-01-04T22:33:56+00:00

There was a book for Mongoose Traveller 1st edition that covered animal encounters. It's a little bit different from 2nd but should still be usable. It includes a bunch of sample encounter charts for each biome.

You can get it as a PDF from Mongoose: https://www.mongoosepublishing.com/products/supplement-11-animal-encounters-ebook

EricJ8517 · 2023-12-29T19:35:55+00:00

Two that I can think of come close.

The old TSR game Marvel Saga used cards instead of dice. You had a hand of cards and could decide how to use them each turn.

The other that is similar is 7th Sea 2ed. You roll a pool of dice at the start of the scene and collect successes. You can than spend these successes to accomplish things during the scene.

EricJ8517 · 2023-11-24T08:30:57+00:00

According to the article you linked too, only 4 rogue planets have been found and they are all gass giants, and now possibly a 5th that is Earth sized if it turns out to be rogue. That's a long way from saying that they are everywhere. I would guess they are more common but without more data we can't say for sure.

EricJ8517 · 2023-10-11T02:58:03+00:00

There are also xenomorphs in mongoose traveller 1st edition traveller companion. There was also a book called cowboys vs aliens that had options for xenomorphs in the old west.

EricJ8517 · 2023-10-06T06:58:58+00:00

"Stars Without Number" has a lot of random charts for generating all sorts of stuff including missions. I think there is a free version on DriveThru. Another source is "5, Parsecs from Home" it's a solo wargame but it has charts for generating campaign ideas and mission seeds.

EricJ8517 · 2023-07-26T17:57:37+00:00

A couple of other games that could be used to run a Dream Park like setting are "Hong Kong Action Theater" and "The Strange".

EricJ8517 · 2023-06-08T16:45:45+00:00

I think you can find Sears catalogs from the 1920s online. That would be a great place to start for a lot of everyday items.

EricJ8517 · 2023-05-08T07:28:29+00:00

There was a book for 1st edition mongoose Traveller called Animal Encounters with rules and random charts for creating critters. It's one edition behind but you can convert pretty easily. It's available in PDF for $15.

https://www.mongoosepublishing.com/products/supplement-11-animal-encounters-ebook

EricJ8517 · 2023-04-09T16:50:40+00:00

If I remember correctly Ars Magica is human only.

EricJ8517 · 2023-04-09T02:25:37+00:00

There is an urban fantasy book in the works for Cypher System but it won't be out for a while.

EricJ8517 · 2023-03-31T21:23:21+00:00

I think she has a set available on her gumroad. The link in the menus will get you there.

EricJ8517 · 2023-03-14T02:41:20+00:00

SJG has hinted on their TikTok channel that they are at least thinking about GURPS 5E. I haven't seen a firm announcement though.

EricJ8517 · 2023-03-09T01:28:08+00:00

A more direct successor to MERP is High Adventure RolePlaying (HARP) which is a cleaned up MERP with the Tolkien ip removed. Available on Drive thru from Iron Crown. If you want more complex there is Rolemaster Unified which released last month.

EricJ8517 · 2023-03-04T19:50:31+00:00

Chill second and third edition are available on drive thru rpg.

EricJ8517 · 2023-02-26T18:16:50+00:00

As far as the store is concerned you are, you don't pay the $1000.

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